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Done dealUpdated 15:29 UK · 28 Aug

Malick Diouf to Brentford
Bees land West Ham's £40m left-back

West Ham UnitedWest Ham UnitedBrentfordBrentfordFee€40mReliability100%
The story so far
  1. 28 Aug
    Move announced
    Brentford confirmed the signing on their official website and Diouf spoke to club media about joining.
  2. 26 Aug
    Fee agreed
    Brentford and West Ham reached agreement on a fee of around £40m after talks reopened in the final days of the window.

The move in full

Brentford have completed a deal worth up to £40m to sign West Ham left-back Malick Diouf, who has agreed a five-year contract at the club.

Brentford have completed the signing of El Hadji Malick Diouf from West Ham, the club confirmed on Friday. The 21-year-old left-back has signed a five-year contract with a club option for a further year, in a deal reported to be worth up to £40m — a fixed fee of around £35m plus add-ons. Brentford had first shown interest last month before talks cooled, only for them to be reopened in the final days of the transfer window, when the fee was quickly agreed. Including add-ons, it is set to become the second-biggest transfer in Brentford's history, behind only this summer's £41m signing of midfielder Mamadou Sangare.

Head coach Keith Andrews explained why Brentford moved for him. "We're really pleased that we were able to sign Malick," he said. "He's a player that fits our ideal age profile, with lots of room to still develop." Brentford's approach under Andrews leans heavily on physicality, crosses and set-pieces — last season only Everton won more aerial duels in the Premier League, and Brentford ranked third for crosses completed. Diouf's own numbers fit that plan closely: he was among the league's busiest crossing full-backs last season, offering both an attacking outlet down the left and the physical profile Andrews wants in his side.

For West Ham, it's a big financial win but a footballing loss. Diouf arrived from Czech champions Slavia Prague only last summer for around £19m and quickly established himself, setting up three goals in his first five Premier League appearances. Selling him for roughly double that fee makes sense for a club that was relegated to the Championship in May and needs to raise funds, but it removes one of the few Premier League-calibre performers they had left. Diouf made clear he had no wish to play Championship football, and with his value high after a strong first season in England, West Ham had little leverage to keep hold of him.

His form did dip as West Ham's relegation battle intensified — after that fast start, he finished the season with five assists in 32 Premier League appearances in total. Before moving to London, Diouf won the Czech league title with Slavia Prague in 2024-25, scoring seven goals and adding three assists in 27 league games, and he has continued to progress with Senegal, playing at both the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 World Cup since making his senior international debut in September 2024.

At Brentford, Diouf will compete for a starting spot at left-back or left wing-back in a settled system built around crosses into the box for targets such as Callum Wilson. Diouf said he had watched Brentford regularly before the move and felt his "athletic" playing style suited how the team operates, adding that conversations with Andrews about his development were a key factor in choosing the Bees over other suitors. With a long-term contract now in place, Brentford clearly see him as a first-team fixture rather than back-up.

What it does to the model

Diouf's crossing and forward running give Brentford another route to goal from a wide area, so expect their chances-created numbers from open play to shift once he's a regular starter. West Ham lose an attacking outlet from full-back just as they adjust to Championship football, which Bawler's models pick up from actual match data rather than reputation. Either way, both clubs' underlying numbers will take a handful of matches to settle once Diouf is playing regularly for his new side.

FPL angle

Diouf · DEF · £4.5m0.0 pts/GW projected

Bawler's FPL model projects Diouf at 0.0 points a gameweek at 0% ownership. It does not publish a before-and-after for a transfer, so the figure is his projection at Brentford, not a delta.

How this is scored100%
  • Announced by the clubs100

A sourcing score, not a chance of completion: it grades how solid the reporting behind the move is. The stage and the evidence come from the sources listed below; the arithmetic is fixed in code, the same for every deal.

Sources

Related: Brentford team page · All transfersBrentford — every match prediction

Where this move lands

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